Utopia Preschool

It's Fun Run Day, one of our biggest fundraisers of the school year! Our Fun Run was Super Mario themed! Mario, Luigi, and even Bowser made an appearance on the track. The children ran and danced forty laps around the track in the big yard, listened to music, and even had some parents check off their t-shirts when they completed a lap! The kids did a great job resting when they needed water or a break too.  We are so happy to report that our class raised the largest amount in the whole school, over $13,000!!! Thank you so much to you and your circles for supporting the entirety of St. Thomas More School. We appreciate you! 

This week we had our first parent visitor come to the classroom: Chelsea's mom, Stephanie! Stephanie came to our Morning Group Time and read two stories to the class: Corduroy and Bobo Loves Dumplings! After, she stayed for the Dragonfly Group's Inside time, supporting with classroom activities and meeting the other children. Thank you so much Stephanie for spending time with us this morning!  If you'd like to sign up for Family Involvement, read a story to the class, share about your culture, or plan an activity, please sign up here:  Utopia Family Involvement 

This week we celebrated reaching our second Fun Run goal by having a dance party! Thank you parents for submitting your child's favorite songs. The favorite choices by far were Golden and Soda Pop from the movie K-Pop Demon Hunters! The teachers turned off the lights, flashed flashlights to set the tone. The children showed off their moves so much that they were all sweaty and tired by the end, with lots of smiles around!  Enjoy the photos, they're blurry because the children were really dancing! 

"Teacher, I'm hungry!" In our daily routine, we have several times where the children can sit down for a snack or meal together. Breakfast and snack times are optional for the children. They are invited sit down and have a snack if they are feeling hungry. We have found this to be effective for children to practice listening to their own hunger cues.  A typical snack time is during the children's outdoor play time. The teacher will announce, "Snack is open! If you're hungry for a snack, come wash your hands." The teacher will also announce what we have for snack that day. This gives the children an opportunity to think about what they need in that moment, "Am I hungry?" This is good practice of listening to their bodies. We also make sure to do a Last Call for any children who decide to change their mind before we put the snack away. Sometimes we have special snack times, like this week, we made fruit and marshmallow kabobs to celebrate reachin...